Day 16: Galilee Field Study (Day 3 - Baptism)

Today I got baptized!!!!! I'll get to that in a bit...

The first thing we did today was go to an overlook site of the Sea of Galilee. On the way, we passed along this fence that was the border of Jordan, Syria, and Israel. We drove up this steep and windy road. The view was beautiful! We made it to the top where the land was flat and used for agriculture. We then made it to the look out. This ended up being pretty hysterical, because it was so muddy! Our shoes were caked with mud and became so heavy. It felt like we gained two inches in height because the mud piled up so much under our shoes. Anyway...the view here was absolutely beautiful. The Sea did not look that big in front of us. It was pretty cloudy so we could not see out super far, but we were still able to see Tiberius. It was just crazy to think that we were looking over Galilee, where Jesus walked on water and calmed the storm. Can you see the rain in the picture I posted?

After the lookout, our next stop was Gergesa. This was Gentile land in the Decapolis, and was important for agriculture and sardine fishing. At this site, we read the story in Luke of the demon-possessed man. Although we are not for certain, we were most likely at the site where Jesus commanded the demons to leave the man, and where the pigs ran off the cliff and into the water. The feeding of the 4,000 also occured at this site. Amazing!

Our next stop of the day was Qasrin. I really enjoyed this spot! This was a village that appeared like it would during the time of Jesus. We were able to walk into a house and see the layout and functions as it would be during Jesus' day. We learned about Jesus and his roles growing up as a child - how he was a carpenter and what that entailed, and how he provided for his family. In this house, we talked about the parable of the lost coin, and also the parable of the paralyzed man. It was neat to see what these parables really looked like in their setting.

Lunch...yum.

Next came Bethsaida. Bethsaida was a pretty well-off city as it had the largest monarchal gate and was located on the international road. This place was also the hometown of Andrew, Philip, and Peter. We could see a fisherman's house here, as this was a primary location for fishing. At this site, Jesus fed the 5,000 (different from the site at Gergesa).

Then came Capernaum! The town of Jesus! We read passages from Matthew explaining how Jesus chose this as his home town. We were also able to see the synagogue that was built during the 3rd century AD. However, it was also built upon the synagoge that Jesus attended. We could see the difference in the brick. That was pretty cool. There was a modern day Catholic Church that was built over Peter's mother-in-law's house, where Jesus healed her. We were also able to walk right down to the Sea of Galilee. The waves were huge!

Finally, the time came for Verity, Serena, Nathanial, and I to get ready for our baptism! I was definitely getting nervous, anxious, and excited! I was ready : ). Vernon warned us that since it had been raining, the Jordan river (where John the Baptist baptized Jesus) was swelled up and going really fast. There was a chance that it would have been too dangerous to be baptized there. Thankfully, that wasn't the case!

When we got to the Jordan River, I was a little surprised by how brown the water was. And it was definitely moving quickly! We went down under a bridge. All the Taylor group was their to witness, along with some others from our group. Vernon shared with us a short sermon on baptism. He then read to use the Nicene creed, declaring what we believe. Then we affirmed our faith. I said YES! The group then said, "We are witnesses." Vernon then took us down to the water one-by-one. Corrie was along side to help us in. When I stepped into the water, it was not nearly as cold as I thought it would be. Maybe I just wasn't thinking about it. I knelt down in the water...Vernon said, "I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" and the rest is history! People were clapping and cheering, and there were lots of hugs all around. I definitely had tears in my eyes. After we were all baptized, Vernon spoke to us in Hebrew. It was really neat! Thankfully, Mallory got everything on video : ). Together as a group, we then sang a hymn. I think it is called "Magnify the Lord." Everything was so perfect, and I wouldn't have asked for anything else. It was so amazing to publicly declare my faith and be baptized where Jesus was baptized. It was truly unforgettable, and an experience that I will always treasure for the rest of my life.

































We had a while before dinner when we got back to Ein Gev, so a big group of us played Spoons. That was fun. The rest of the evening I spent journaling.

Today was absolutely incredible. I enjoyed learning a lot about Jesus and the locations he lived and taught and performed miracles...and the fact that I got baptized in His name! I couldn't have asked for anything better.